Window screen



y 1950 L. P. WRIIGI-VIT 2,514,920

WINDOW SCREEN Filed Nov. 7, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. LINWOOD PWRIGHT A TTYS.

L. P. WRIGHT WINDOW SCREEN July 11, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed NOV. 7,1945 fzwezaiiaailimwoodflWa-iagfai,

Patented July 11, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT O FF ICE WINDOW SCREENLinwood. P. WrightQ 'FaImouth, Maine Application November '7, 1945',Serial No. 627,220

1. My: present i-nvention. relatesto "improvements inzwindow screens. ofthat type havingars'creen element consisting of top and bottom membersand asheetof flexible screening connected: thereto: which can be rolled'for handling or "storage and installed from the room interior by meansattached to the-window casing. I

The potential advantage of screensio'fi thisutype. have long beenrecognized, but structures: pre viously proposed have not permittedthose all-- vantages to be realized. This was due to such I actors asappearance and" the d i fiiculty of having the screening fittightlyagainst the margins: of the area to be screened. v

In'accordance with my invention, I provide: a

window screen having side members to be attached to sides of the windowcasing. Each of the side members cons'i'sts oi a portion to: beattached'to the window casing; a flange extending intothe-area to bescreened and -a cover portion hinged to the" first named portion: to swing from open position into a closed position in which itiissubstantia-lly in engagement withzthe flange Attached to eachcoverportion is: a trip and preferably the coverand firstnamedportionsare connected byvme'ans" by the cover is resillent-1yfh'eld' either open. or closed; positionsiagainst accidental movement.

screening element in. accordance with: my

invention consists of a top member adapted "to" be detachably supportedby'the' upprer endsoffithe flanges of theaside members, a; bottom memberadapted to: be detachably' connected tm the: windowsil'l, andnexiblescreeningwconnected to the topcandl' bottom. members and. dimensioned toengagewith. the flanges: of: the side" members.

'witlma window screen inia'cc'ordance wittr my inventiomthe side:memberszare 'first'attached-to thee'window casing: and the screeningelement may then be readily installed from within. the room-by firstmounting. its'top members on. the flanges with the screening and:bottom. memberson: the. outside of the: flanges. Themwith" the coverportions of the side members open, the bottom member is; drawninwardlyand attached. to the sill. with the: marginal portions of the;screening; in contactrw-itlr the flanges;

accordance. with. myinvention; the cover portionsggwhen' in their open.position,.:are spaced. to accommodate the. width of. the: screening andthe. trips with which each of. the cover portions i'siprovided aredisposed. so that, when the. cover portions are. in their open.position.marginalportlons of the. screening engage therewith. IThepositioning of. the bottom member of. thee-Screen.

9 Claims. (-01. 160-371) element for attachment to the windowsilli'accordi'ngly causes the screening to engage with.

the trips and to move. the. cover portions from their-open to theirclosed position. Preferably the first named and cover portions of. theside members are interconnected by means resiliently holding the coverportions in either their open or their closed positions.

Window screens in accordance with my invention. have the advantage thatease of installa.

tion "and: effective screening are combined. Addi-tional'; features arethat my window screen may be economically manufactured to beattractivein appearance and in. the accompanying drawings ,1 have shownan. illustrative embodiment of my invention from which these and itsother novel features and advantages will be readily apparent.

'I'nthe drawings: Fig. I shows an installed window screen in accordancewith my invention as viewed from theportion of' a side member isresiliently held in either its closed or'its open position, Fig. 7 is atransverse section. on an enlarged scale with side members closedagainst the screen: and the bottom member locked to: the sill, and Fig."8 is a fragmentary section showing a side member in its open positionand the bottom member-unlocked;

In the drawings I have shown my invention as embodied ina window screen:particularly adapted foruse' in screening the lower half; of a doublehung window, the upper half of which is indicated generally at W inFig. 1. The sides of the window casing H, the window sill l2, and the.bottom rail i3 of theuppersash (see Fig. 3)- define the area to. bescreened.

Inaccordance with. my invention, I provideside members generallyindicated. at 14. Each side: member f icomprises aportion I5: adapted,to be attached to the casing H- and having a flange 3 which extendsoutwardly into the areato be screened. substantially in a planeinclusive of the outer face ofthe. rail [3 as. shown in Fig. 3.

A cover it is connected by hinges it to the portion. i=5 adjacent itsedge that is oppositethe flange Hi to-swing trom its open positionshown.

3 in Figs. 2 and 6 to a closed position in which it is substantially inengagement with the flange I6 as shown in Fig. 4. In its closedposition, the cover I! defines an acute angle with the portion l so thatit is inclined inwardly and defines with the portion and the flange IS acompartment l9, see Fig. 4.

Each of the covers I! has a trip preferably having a flange 2|. When thecovers I! are in their open position, they are spaced apart a distancesubstantially equal to the width of the area to be screened and in thisposition each trip 20 projects into that area as shown in Fig. 2. Whenthe covers are in their closed position, the trips 20 are concealedwithin the compartment l9.

Preferably, I employ means indicated generally at 22 to hold resilientlyeach cover I! open or closed to prevent its accidental movement fromeither position. As may be seen from Figs. 2 and 6, the spring means 22may comprise a loop 23 of resilient stock fast to the portion l5 of theside member [4 and a loop 24 secured to the cover I1. I interconnect theloops 23 and 24 by a substantially U-shaped wire connector 25 secured atits ends to an eccentric 25 in the loop 23. By this construction, as acover is swung, the eccentric 26 turns within the loop 23 and tends towedge it apart. Because of the resiliency of the stock from which it ismade, the loop 23 snaps the eccentric from a dead center position intoeither a position in which the cover I! is open or closed.

The screen element in accordance with my invention comprises a topmember generally indicated at 21, a bottom member generally indicated at28 and any suitable screening 29 connected at its top and bottom to themembers 21 and 28 respectively and dimensioned as required by the sizeof the area to be screened so that its margins will engage with theflanges l6.

As may be most clearly seen in Figs. 2 and 3, the top member 21 has aninner flange 30 and an outer flange 3! so disposed relative thereto thatwhen the top member 21 is supported by the upper ends of the flanges ISwith the inner flange 30 between them and the rail IS, the outer flange3| extends downwardly and inwardly so that its edge is beyond the edgeof the flange 30 and is in a plane substantially inclusive of theflanges E5. The screening 29 is connected as at 32 to the edge of theouter flange 3|. I have shown the upper ends of the flanges l6 as beingoffset at 33 to accommodate the inner flange 30.

The bottom member 28 is apertured to receive any suitable fasteningmeans such as is indicated at 34. These are attached to the window silll2 and may be formed as at 35 to receive, for example, the hook 36 withwhich pivotable knobs 31 on the bottom member 28 are provided thereby toestablish means for detachably looking the bottom member to the sill l2.

The bottom member 28 has a flange 38 so disposed that when the bottommember 28 is locked to the sill, the flange 38 extends upwardly andinwardly with its edge substantially in the plane defined by the flangesl6 of the side members M. The bottom edge of the screening 29 isattached to the edge of the flange 38 as at 39.

Preferably, the width and inclination of the flange 3| of the top member2'! and the flange 38 of the bottom member 28, when such members areinstalled, are the same as that defined by the covers I! when in theirclosed position. The ends of the top and bottom members abut the windowcasing ll.

respectively with the upper and lower ends of the covers 11 when closedand are complementally so formed that the effect of a unitary screenframe is established as will be apparent from Fig. 1. The side, top andbottom members may be made of relatively thin stock formed withstrengthening bends which may impart to them an attractive design.

Window screens in accordance with my invention'are easy to install andremove. The side members M are first attached to the sides of The windowscreen element comprising the top and bottom members 21 and 28 and thescreening 29 connected thereto, may then be installed from the inside ofthe room when the covers H of the side members I4 are in, theiropen-position. This may be read- 1 ily effected by supporting the topmember 21 on the upper ends 33 of the flanges ill with the inner flange30 between them and the rail 13, with' the screening 29 and the bottommember 28 on the outer side of the flanges l6 and beyond the trips 20.

The means by which the bottom member 28 is attached to the sill areinitially positioned so that the screening 29 must be pulled taut beforethe locking of the bottom member to the sill may be completed. In doingthis, the bottom member is drawn inwardly and pulled downwardly over thefastening means 34 and, in so doing, the margins of the screening 29 arebrought into contact with the trips 20 thereby causing the screening 29to close the covers I! as the bottom member is positioned forattachurged outwardly, the covers I! are opened and the top member 21 isthen lifted from the ends 33 of the flanges iii. The covers then aremanually closed and the side members remain availv able for usewhen itis desired to reinstall the screening unit. The removed screening unitmay be rolled up-for ease in handling and to permit compact storage.

Many other advantages of my invention will'be apparent. Among these maybe noted that my invention enables window screens to be readily fittedto houses where the window casings are not properly rectangular. Thisresults from the fact that the flanges l6 are proportioned so that moreor less of the screening engages'therewith and since there are no sidemembers permanently atta'ched to the screening 29, it may be readilytrimmed if desired.

What I therefore claim and desire to secure' by Letters Patent is:

1. A window screen comprising a pair of side members, each of said sidemembers including a portion to be attached to a side of the windowcasing, a flange extending into the area to be screened and acoverportion hinged to' said first named portion to swing from an openposition to aclosed position in which it is substantially in engagementwith said flange, and a removable: screen element comprising top andbottom mem-":

bers and a sheet of flexible screening connected to said members, saidtop member detachably in- V terlocking with the upper ends of saidflanges; means detachably locking said bottom-member:

member.

to the window sill, the marginal portions of said screen elementengaging said flanges when said top and bottom members are attachedrespectively to said flanges and to said sill and. being held engagedtherewith by said cover portions when in their closed position.

2. A window screen comprising a pair of side members, each of said sidemembers including a portion to be attached to a side. of the windowcasing, a flange extending into the area to be screened, and a coverportion hinged to said first named portion to swing from an openposition to a closed position in which it is substantially in engagementwith said flange and defines an acute angle with said first namedportion, and a removable screen element comprising top and bottommembers and a sheet of flexible screening, said top member having a webportion and inner and outer flanges, said outer flange tapering inwardlytowards said inner flange, said top member being disposed over the endsof the flanges of said side member with the inner flange in engagementwith the inner surface thereof, said outer flange having the sameinclination as said cover portions in their closed positions and havingits edge substantially in the plane defined by said flanges of said sidemembers, said screening being connected to the edge of said outerflange, said bottom member having a portion to be attached to the windowsill and a flange extending at the same inclination as said coverportions in their closed positions and having its edge substantially inthe plane defined by said side member flanges, and said screen elementbeing attached to the edge of said bottom member flange and having itsmargins engaged with said side member flanges and being heldthereagainst by said cover portions when in their closed position.-

3. The window screen of claim 2 in which the ends of the flanges of thetop and bottom members engage respectively with the top and bottom endsof the side member flanges and all of said ends are uniformly inclined.

4. The window screen of claim 2 in which the upper ends of the sidemember flanges are outwardly offset a distance substantially equal tothe thickness of the inner flange of the top 5. A window screencomprising a pair of side members, each of said side members including aportion-to be attached to a side of the window casing, a flangeextending into the area to be screened, a cover portion hinged to saidfirst named portion to swing between a closed position in which its edgeis substantially in engagement with said flange and an open position,and a trip carried by said cover portions, and a removable screenelement comprising top and bottom members and a sheet of flexiblescreening connected to said members, said top member detachablyinterlocking with the upper ends of said flanges, means to detachablylock said bottom member to the window sill, said screen engaging saidflanges, said covers, when in their open position, being spaced apart adistance accommodating the width of said screening and exposing saidtrips in the path of the margins of the screen element.

6. A window screen comprising a pair of side members, each of said sidemembers including a portion to be attached to a side of the windowcasing, a flange extending into the area to be screened, a cover portionhinged to said first named portion to swing between a closed positionboth in their open position,being spaced apart a distance accommodatingthe width of said screening and exposing said trips for engagement bythe margins of said screen element and said bottom member is swunginwardly into position for attachment to said sill thereby to close saidcovers against said flanges.

7. A side member for a window screen comprising a portion to be attachedto the sides of the window casing, a flange extendin into the area to bescreened, a cover portion hinged to said first named portion to swingbetween an open position and a closed position in which it issubstantially in engagement with said flange, and means resilientlyholding said cover portion in either of said positions.

8. A side member for attachment to the sides of a window casing and toretain the margins of a screen element, said member comprising a portionto be attached to said sides, a flange portion extending into the areato be screened, a cover portion hinged to said first named portionoutwardly of said flange to swing between an open position and a closedposition in which it is substantially in engagement with said flange todefine therewith a chamber, a trip carried by said cover portionengageable by said margins when said cover portion is in its openposition, as it is brought from the outside inwardly against said flangethereby to move said cover portion into its closed position and in saidclosed position, said trip being within said chamber.

9. The side member of claim 8 and means resiliently holding the coverportion in either its open or its closed position.

LINWOOD P. WRIGHT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,131,204 Bridges Mar. 9, 19151,241,425 Nelson Sept. 25, 1917 2,314,026 Willett Mar. 16, 1943

